Press Freedom Archives - Kit O'Connell: Approximately 8,000 Words

Over 100 Arrested In Brutal Police Crackdown On Standing Rock ‘Water Protectors’

Activists rally at Minneapolis City Hall to support the 'water protectors' blocking the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota. October 25, 2016. (Flickr / Fibonacci Blue)

October 28, 2016

Kit

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Over 100 Arrested In Brutal Police Crackdown On Standing Rock ‘Water Protectors’

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Law enforcement commenced a violent crackdown on Native American activists blocking construction on the Dakota Access pipeline on Thursday, resulting in over 100 arrests and multiple injuries.

At least 107 people were arrested and both Native American “water protectors” and members of the media were harmed when hundreds of militarized riot police, accompanied by armored vehicles and the National Guard, stormed a blockade on North Dakota Highway 1806 and an accompanying encampment.

Among the injured was Derrick Broze, an independent journalist reporting for MintPress News from the Standing Rock Sioux reservation this week. He was shot with pepper spray and shocked with a “less-lethal” taser. Police also took his smartphone, which he had been using to document the day’s events via Facebook Live.

Journalists Risk Legal Battles & Prison Time For Covering Dakota Access Pipeline Protests

A NoDAPL sign at a rally in solidarity with Native American "water protectors" in North Dakota. (Flickr / Paulann Egelhoff)

October 20, 2016

Kit

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Journalists Risk Legal Battles & Prison Time For Covering Dakota Access Pipeline Protests

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Although charges were recently dropped against prominent progressive journalist Amy Goodman, multiple reporters still face serious charges for covering protests against the Dakota Access pipeline.

Among them is Deia Schlosberg, an Emmy-winning documentarian who was recording nonviolent protests against the Dakota Access pipeline for an upcoming film. She’s currently up against three felony charges which carry a maximum combined sentence of 45 years in prison.

On Monday, a judge in North Dakota threw out the case against Goodman, an award-winning journalist and host of Democracy Now! North Dakota State’s Attorney Ladd R. Erickson had initially filed charges of criminal trespass against Goodman on Sept. 8, just days after a Democracy Now! video showing pipeline security attacking Native American activists with dogs went viral. On Oct. 14, the trespass charge was dropped and replaced with a misdemeanor charge of rioting.

Trump Stokes Hate Against Journalists, Clinton Attacks Whistleblowers & Press Freedom

Protesters hold signs reading "Love Trumps Hate" and "Stand Against Racism" during Donald Trump's speech to AIPAC. March 21, 2016. (Flickr / Stephen Melkisethian)

August 26, 2016

Kit

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Trump Stokes Hate Against Journalists, Clinton Attacks Whistleblowers & Press Freedom

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Donald Trump is known for voicing his negative opinions of the media, and the Republican nominee’s supporters are increasingly reflecting those sentiments with bizarre and sometimes threatening behavior toward reporters covering his rallies.

Hillary Clinton also has a history of attacking press freedom, though more through supporting the prosecution of whistleblowers and backing repressive Middle Eastern regimes than through the kind of open contempt expressed by her opponent.

Developed In Iraq, Deployed At the DNC?: Cell-Jamming Technology Is Being Turned On Journalists

n July 27, 2016, activists, media and citizen journalists with smartphones surround a group of anticapitalist activists burning a U.S. flag. Journalists, including a MintPress News reporter, found it difficult or impossible to upload video of incidents like this one while near the entrance to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. (MintPress News / Kit O'Connell)

August 12, 2016

Kit

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Developed In Iraq, Deployed At the DNC?: Cell-Jamming Technology Is Being Turned On Journalists

Posted in Journalism, MintPress News, and Occupy Wall Street

Technology developed to jam cellphones during the Iraq War may be getting deployed against journalists reporting on protests against the political establishment in the United States.

While police and government surveillance of protests, including monitoring of cellphone use, is well-documented, efforts to block signals at protests remains an oft-repeated, but never proven, rumor.

It may be impossible to definitively prove that authorities are using cellphone “jamming” technology, but journalists working with both mainstream and independent media reported unusual difficulties accessing the internet during recent protests at the gates of the Democratic National Convention, consistent with the effects this very real technology could have.

Secretive Internet ‘Kill Switch’ And Apple Patent Could Stop You From Filming Police & Protests

A group of masked Japanese protesters film the police with a videocamera in this Dec. 21, 2008 photograph. (Flickr / David Shackelford)

July 13, 2016

Kit

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Secretive Internet ‘Kill Switch’ And Apple Patent Could Stop You From Filming Police & Protests

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

As smartphones revolutionize how people interact with breaking news, internet freedom advocates are warning that “kill switch” technology could shut down this newfound form of expression during times of civil unrest.

Viral video footage of the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, two black men recently fatally shot by police, triggered nationwide Black Lives Matter protests and renewed a nationwide discussion over the importance of easily accessible video and livestreaming to hold cops accountable.

However, police frequently target those caught filming them, even when courts have repeatedly upheld the right of citizens to do so. Police held Diamond Reynolds, Castille’s fiancee, at gunpoint while she filmed the aftermath of the shooting, and both witnesses to Sterling’s death, Chris LeDay and Abdullah Muflahi, were targeted by police after filming.

But perhaps even more worrisome than police targeting individuals for filming is the idea that the technology which allows witnesses to film and share incidents of brutality could be remotely disabled to stem dissent.

The First Amendment Hasn’t Stopped Police From Harassing Copwatchers

In this March 27, 2016 photograph, two members of the Peaceful Streets Project film a police officer in the Rundberg area of Austin, Texas. (Facebook / Peaceful Streets Project)

April 23, 2016

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The First Amendment Hasn’t Stopped Police From Harassing Copwatchers

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and Truthout

At a protest in downtown Denver, on April 29, 2015, a police officer stole Jessica Benn’s smartphone.

Benn had been filming her husband, Jesse, from the safety of the sidewalk as police arrested him. That was enough for her to be targeted and to have her property illegally seized.

“An officer just stepped up to me and grabbed it right out of my hand,” she told Truthout. “Right behind him was an officer in SWAT gear who then took me and pushed me up against a bus with a baton across my neck and held me there.”

Benn grew increasingly alarmed as the officer ignored her questions.

“It was very chaotic, people were yelling and getting arrested all around us, and the nature of the arrests were very violent. So at that point I was concerned about my safety and I told this officer that I was pregnant and could he please not hurt my stomach.”